Great Wall of China
In the year 221 B.C.E., there was a great ruler over the Ch'in kingdom in China, named Shih Huang Ti. Shih was power hungry and wanted more land so he gathered his army and captured the surrounding kingdoms. As the ruler of so many kingdoms he became "the first emperor" of China. Shih showed his tyranny when he burned all history books to insure that his people and future generations would only remember him and none of the earlier rulers. He had a strong army but the fierce tribes north of China, the Mongols and the Huns, were stronger. These nomadic tribes would come into China and steal crops and animals and then destroy everything left behind.
Shih was very disturbed with these invasions, so in the year 214 B.C.E. he freed prisoners and gathered workers and herds of animals. He gave all this to Meng T'ien, his loyal general. Meng and the men and animals were sent north to fortify Shih's kingdoms from invading armies. Shih planned to make a great wall by extending and enlarging preexisting walls made by previous rulers. This "great" wall would serve as a barricade to keep out all tribes that wanted to invade China. It also served to separate the civilized acts of the farmers in China to the barbaric acts of the nomadic tribes. What Shih did not know was that the construction would cause many deaths and much suffering to the builders of the wall. The wall which Meng and his men created had watchtowers, forty feet tall, every two hundred yards. The purpose of these towers was to alert the defending soldiers of approaching, attacking tribes. The soldiers at the towers signalled to each other by day using smoke signals, ! waving flags, blowing horns, and ringing bells; by night by lighting firework-like objects in the sky. The wall, itself, was approximately fifteen hundred miles long, thirty feet high and, at the base, twenty-five feet thick. It was made of the core of earth and gravel. Actually, it was two walls aligned with each other and then filled in with a stone base pounded smooth. The wall traveled over mountains and through valleys. It went from Liatun, on the coast near Korea, westward to the northern end on the Yellow River, southward to Lint'ao to close off the north west area of the empire from the Huns.
In the 18th century, France owned more parts of the United States than any other European power. However, after the French and Indian war, France relinquished their Louisiana land to Spain. In 1801, Spain created a secret treaty with France, which would return the Louisiana territory. This instilled fear for the Americans because many of them depended on free access to the Mississippi River and New Orleans ports. Officials feared that Napoleon Bonaparte would blockade the river and the Gulf of Mexico in response to show his dominance. Thomas Jefferson saw the threat of the France and said; “The day that France takes...
In the "Masque of the Red Death," the first sentence, "The Red Death had long devastated the country," sets the tone for the whole story. Poe describes the horrors of the disease, stressing the redness of the blood and the scarlet stains. The disease kills so quickly that one can die within thirty minutes of being infected with the disease. To create a frightening effect of the revulsion of this disease, Poe uses words such as "devastated," "fatal," "horror of blood," and "sharp pains and profuse bleeding." In summary, the story relates the prince, trying to be safe and away from the horrible death, invites a thousand friends to be in seclusion in his abbey away from the disease. During a celebration , a masked ball at the abbey - with incredible described rooms and moods - a surprise masked intruder causes death to all.
To buy or not to buy, that is the question. Although it was the greatest “real estate” deal, the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 was perhaps one of the most controversial events in American History. President Thomas Jefferson, although he was a Founding Father and the primary writer of the Declaration of Independence, faced major opposition with his decision to purchase the Louisiana Territory from the French. Most of the opposition he faced, however, was domestic.
In 1803 the United States would make the largest and possibly most controversial land purchases in American history, the Louisiana Purchase. During the years leading up to this event the United States was still trying to solidify a national identity. There were two subjects that were causing for division of the new national identity, one being westward expansion. The Northern states and Federalists opposed the idea of westward expansion while the Southern States and the Jeffersonians backed this purchase. Although there was a struggle for a single national identity and this controversial purchase did not aid in finding that single identity, it was still the right decision for the United States. By purchasing this land from the French the United States would not share a colonial boundary with the French who were continuing to gain power under Napoleon. Purchasing the Louisiana Territory would prove to be beneficial for the United States for more reason than one.
“The Masque of the Red Death” was written by Edgar Allen Poe in the 19th century. This story was written during the Gothic era. The stories that are written in the Gothic era is usually has to do with death, and lots of people were fascinated by the stories. There are many symbols in “The Masque of the Red Death”, yet I chose three, the first is all the colors of the room, second is the ebony clock and the last is the inside and outside of the abbey.
Hundreds of people thought that they were being isolated from a deadly contagion, but it had seemed to find another form of an entrance. “The Masque of the Red Death”, was written by Edgar Allan Poe, a poet from the mid-1800’s, with a wife who had tuberculosis. The short story begins with a lengthy description of the pestilence, which can be interpreted as tuberculosis, that has infested the fictional country. The wealthy Prince Prospero decides to house a thousand of his friends, in order to keep them safe. The artistic home of this Prince has seven rooms, each decorated with a separate color. After five or six months of being sheltered from the contagion, Prince Prospero decides to throw a masquerade ball. As the party progresses, the large ebony clock in the black room chimes, on the twelfth chime, a new guest appears. The rooms turn silent as the ghost of the red death slowly walks through, the fearless Prince Prospero follows
Edgar Allen Poe wrote the short story “The Masque of the Red Death” in 1842. While only one character is actually named, Prince Prospero, the story builds apprehension just based on the descriptions and not on dialogue. The narrator is never named and it is a mystery as to this person’s involvement in the story. The ambiguousness of the narrator also helps build the drama throughout the story. “The Masque of the Red Death” tells the story of a group of wealthy people who are trying to ignore and separate themselves from a terrible disease that is sweeping across their country. The disease is swift and brutal and can cause death within 30 minutes. The people infected weep blood from the pores on their faces and bodies, which causes a disturbing visual image. Poe uses the setting and symbolism to reiterate to the reader that death is inevitable.
Throughout the short story “The Masque of the Red Death,” Edgar Allan Poe uses vivid symbolism, structure, and reoccurring details to paint a powerful image regarding the finality and inescapable reaches of death itself. “The ‘Red Death’ has long devastated the country,” yet the Prince Prospero continues to hold extravagant parties for his fellow elite members of society. Rather than merely telling a series of events, Poe carries his readers throughout the many rooms and scenes that hold the Prince’s masquerade, up until the clock strikes midnight and the partygoers can no longer hide behind their façade, and death comes in to take those that thought themselves invincible (Poe 438-442).
My life’s experience influenced my decision to become a social worker. Without getting to far in detail I have experienced both sides of the pendulum. The negative experiences are what made me a stronger person. I have a profound understanding of the destruction of a...
Reading “The Masque of Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe places the reader in an interesting scene. It starts into a masquerade scene, and there is a lot of splendor and wealth to be seen. This merry scene contrasts the scene outside of the castle though. The surrounding area is under the effects of a plague. This medieval style setup pave the way for a deeper understanding for the reader based on historical context. While this might seem to be a story about medieval culture, it is actual a reflection of some events during its publication time. The story was published in 1842, and there are two particular historical events that appear throughout Poe’s writing. The Panic of 1837 and the peak of Tuberculosis both make prevalent appearances through “The Masque of Red Death”, and they are shaped throughout the story by Poe’s setting descriptions as well as symbolism seen as the progression of the night’s events.
At this point in time, seniors at Mira Costa feel trapped, as if they can't get out of Mira Costa and Manhattan Beach soon enough. Imagine being physically trapped in their city, surrounded by nothing but a big concrete wall holding them hostage. The Berlin Wall kept half a city hidden behind, what was known as, the iron curtain. The wall was “...a symbol of oppressive and divisive government, not only to the East Germans it contained, but to the rest of the world as well.”("Transitional Justice.") The people of Germany were separated from their jobs, their loved ones, and were forced to live under communist rule.
The Berlin Crisis reached its height in the fall of 1961. Between August and October of that year, the world watched as the United States and the Soviet Union faced off across a new Cold War barrier, the Berlin Wall. In some ways, the Wall was Khrushchev’s response to Kennedy’s conventional buildup at the end of July, and there were some in the West who saw it that way. However, as Hope Harrison has clearly shown, Khrushchev was not the dominant actor in the decision to raise the Wall, but rather acquiesced to pressure from East German leader Walter Ulbricht, who regarded the Wall as the first step to resolving East Germany’s political and economic difficulties. The most pressing of these difficulties was the refugee problem, which was at its height in the summer of 1961 as thousands of East Germans reacted to the increased tensions by fleeing westward. But Ulbricht also saw the Wall as a way to assert East German primacy in Berlin, and thus as a way to increase the pressure on the West to accept East German sovereignty over all of Berlin.
The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire were two grand empires that rose out of preexisting territories and provided relative peace over wide areas. The collapse of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), which was the first great land-based empire in East Asia, came after a period of war, confusion, and tyrannical rule. Due to the political disorder that stemmed from the early dynastic activity, the emergence of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE- 228 CE) sprung to focus on restoring order. On the other hand, the rise of the Roman Empire (44 BCE- 476 CE) originated from consolidating authority over aristocratic landlords and overriding the democratic elements of the earlier Republic. Instead, the Roman Empire redefined the concept of “citizen” as subjects to the Roman emperor. Both empires shared similar agendas to exploit their vast territories and resources, which helped them expand their political dominance; however, despite having similar political goals and foundations, their government system, cultural ideologies and imperial expansionist natures diverged.
“The Masque of the Red Death” is an extraordinary story of many elements that can grasp any reader's attention. This story targets more of the emotions and actions of the characters, creating more of a fathom. Edgar Allan Poe wrote this story from his own perspective and perhaps succeeded in getting the reader to some what relate to the characters focusing on the feelings. The point of view Poe wrote this in makes a clear understanding.
Being a social worker entitles being able to identify those who are in need and helping them to respond to particular crisis such as abuse of a child and or spouse and helping the clients to get use to certain changes in their lives. For example, social workers promote change, problem solving in human relationships and they also enhance the well-being of individuals. To become a great social worker one must first have a heart. A social worker should care about an individual’s well-being and have problem solving skills to be able to help or guide an individual to get help with the everyday stresses of being in bad situations financially as well as mentally and psychologically. Being that social workers deal with individuals that do not necessarily have it easy in life, an individual should come into their life with open arms, ready to accept all the flaws and baggage this individual may have. Life is not easy for anyone, but we all have to remember an individual somewhere has it worse than most.